The Concept of Corporate Strategy - Essay Example

Table of Contents Introduction: 2 Literature Review: 2 Management 4 Leadership: 4 Results and Findings: 5 Analysis/Discussions: 5 Introduction: Babcock is a reputed multinational engineering company dealing with support services and managing assets and safety infrastructure. History of this top company in UK can be traced back to 1891, with 4 operating divisions and having good business with ministry of defense and Network Rail. According to 2010 report Babcock is 41st largest contractor in Defense. Proud reputation of Ultra-reliable delivery and engineering excellence makes Babcock one of the most reliable in Business world. Babcock a team of more than 26 thousand employees make the best team by doing designing, managing and operating different projects related to telecommunications, defense, energy, education and transport. IN 2013 total revenue generated by Babcock was 3.2 billion pounds. Trust to bring best of the products, service and long term value for shareholders. Very important issue which I see in Babcock is gender ratio in employees, majority of the employees are male and only 20% of employees are female which is not a very good number. Female representation in any organization gives a softer image to the world and another aspect is that female empowerment shows a much positive approach of an organization. Babcock should focus on this female hiring to market Babcock in business sector. Another negative point of Babcock is that they are resistant to change, business sector has one rule and that is adaptability, business growth depends upon upgrading and adapting new styles trends and procedures if they are good for company so Babcock needs to expand business by taking Babcock to different countries. This report will focus on flaws which are present in Babcock’s structure and if they eliminate those flaws then Babcock will grow as double speed as it is now. Literature Review: To conduct any research work it is necessary to review the literature of the study. The literature review provides us information about the work done in the specific area with theoretical framework on which the suggested solution of the problem can be built. The literature on the problem is somewhat dispersed from different sources to get a better understanding of the problem under study (KRÄMER, RINGLING & YANG, 2006). A brief review of the literature is given as: A student accountant( September 2008) in his paper explained how business process is important for defining business strategy and suggested ways through which organization can analyze performance of their already existing policies and procedures and how they can change and improve the existing system in order to meet the requirements of the changing business world. Rod Lambert (2014) in his article states that due to increased environmental uncertainty and competition in business requires more adaptive approach to make better strategies with change initiatives. Ability to successfully implement programs which are of different culture and approach. Gary M.Smith (2000) in his business article says that there are some most important points which are necessity for a better business meeting and to make a partnership go long way. Articles focuses on three most important points which are Pay attention, Arrive early, don’t interrupt Edward G. (2008) in his article ‘The importance of effective communication” covers all the different aspects of communication and its effects of business. Effective communication is the most important component of the success of an organization. Whether its interpersonal, intragroup, intergroup, organizational or extreme level communication every form of better communication can give tremendous results in business growth. Methododology: Method for smoothing the path of change and cultural transfer can be seen in the outline of diagnostic model. Marketing 1.Target market: First of all the company has not clearly defined its target market whether they are going to target local partners only or they need to acquire customers globally. They need to establish strategies for their target market after they decide what the target market means to them. Since they have already 80% of their business in their parent country that means they have well established their roots in Uk now they need to go global and make plans for that. They need to study corporate culture difference in other countries and advertise their self according to that culture. Management 2.Hiring : The management of the company should consider hiring more diverse staff regarding gender and culture as well they have to eliminate the paradigm of hiring more men in engineering firm, they need to do external recruiting so that more diversify candidate can apply. They have to appoint some managers from outside U.K if they want to do business in other countries because it will increase business and make the organization more flexible and reliable when they will go to other countries for operations, Before stepping into a new region they need to learn about the corporate norms of that region so that they could better position themselves. Firing: They have to let go some of their old age employees to bring in more energetic and innovative employees which can communicate better globally. Operations: They need to redesign their training programs and include such training programs which educate their employees at top position about the difference in culture and need of the customers varying geographically. Leadership: The Leadership need to be more change adaptive they have to promote flexible corporate culture in the organization and promote diversity in the staff, they have to be role model for lower staff they must have studied properly about the corporate norms of brazil and make strategies for that, The top leadership need to focus more on making alliance with other big companies in other countries so that they can grow fast and spread their network, They need to promote themselves as company which is ready to provide engineering solution not only military but a reliable engineering company which can provide solution to each and every one. For that they need to clearly define their vision and communicate it throughout the organization so that missions according to the vision could be design and achieved Results and Findings: After a careful study of the Babcock as a big name in cooperate world its clear from literature review as well that Babcock has flaws which needs to be highlighted to work on them and overcome all the shortcomings which may cause problem for Babcock in future (ULRICH, LOSEY, & MIESINGER, 2005). Very first problem is that in Babcock there is no diversification in gender and culture, number of male employees is much higher than female employees. Second major issue is lack of vision, to be on the top by an impressive strategy to tackle all the shortcomings and making people work exceptionally good to make organization grow is called vision so in Babcock’s case vision is missing which needs to be a clear vision to be the top company. UK based company is resistant to travel around the world and make business from every corner of the world but Babcock is resistant to change. Another problem is informal work environment which should be much more professional then it currently is. Better communication is also required to make business meetings and partnerships impressive (DESSLER, 2000). Analysis/Discussions: Babcock lacked behind in few managerial practices just because strategic planning was not good, policies were not very effective. Expanding business in different countries of the world is always priority of big organizations but it was never in the vision of Babcock. Revenue generation was really good and 3.2 billion annual revenue is worth praising but along with financial benefit, good marketing strategy can bring best of Babcock. 80% of work is in UK and rest 20% is from abroad which clearly shows the weaker side which mentioned earlier and better communications with the partners is another weak point which is gives very bad impression to the partner company. Top leadership never trained employees to take proper care of meetings and conferences and how to deal with such big events (MATHIS & JACKSON, 2003). Notice board which Babcock uses for communicating key information is a good way to communicate but group discussions and training are a strong point which can give better results (MONDY, NOE, & GOWAN, 2005). Conclusion: Babcock has a long way to go and is doing good currently but focus it to make company grow and become one of the best company not only in UK but all over the world. As explained in the methodology new strategies should be introduced in order to see drastic change. With new partner companies meetings should be more professional and planned. A one year strategic plan should be made and implementation of new policies should be the top priority to change the structure and policies. Business expansion is the most important aspect which cannot be ignored at all. Babcock requires effective communication with other top companies to make its way in the big world and be an icon in no time. Recommendations: Female employees should be hired for gender balance and as good marketing strategy. Strategies for expansions should be made (BURKE, & COOPER, 2008). Joint ventures with multinational companies can give Babcock a boost. Communication workshops and trainings for employees can give positive results Performance evaluation in comparison with other multinationals should be the main focus in order to improve Babcock’s position in the market (BRATTON, & GOLD, 2000). . Report should have detailed vision and mission statements to clearly describe the loopholes in vision of the company management. More frequent traveling to Market Company should be made mandatory in the monthly tasks. Meetings should be more formal and key points of how to conduct better business meetings should be described in home country office to make communication impressive in the partner country. Gaps should be bridge, cultural differences shouldn’t be seen during official tours to other countries (LOCKWOOD, 2010). Babcock should hire new employees with good communication and business development executives should be given preference. Monthly evaluation report of business and employee satisfaction should be monitored. Suggestion for improvement should be taken from every employee. Performance evaluation of employees and organization should be monitored and self evaluation should be also be introduced to monitor the changes and new formation should be noticed this way (ULRICH, LOSEY, & LAKE, 1997). References: 1. Andrews, K.A. (1971). The Concept of Corporate Strategy. Burr Ridge, IL: Dow-JonesIrwin. 2. BRATTON, J., & GOLD, J. (2000). Human resource management theory and practice. Mahwah, N.J., Lawrence Erlbaum 3. BURKE, R. J., & COOPER, C. L. (2008). Building more effective organizations: HR management and performance in practice. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press. 4. DESSLER, G. (2000). Human resource management. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall. 5. Grant, R. M. (2002). Corporate strategy: Managing scope and strategy content. In A Pettigrew, H. Thomas, & R. Whittington (eds.), Handbook of Strategy and Management, London: Sage, 72–97. 6. KRÄMER, C., RINGLING, S., & YANG, S. (2006). Mastering HR management with SAP. Fort Lee, NJ, SAP Press. 7. L.A. Woolcott & W.R. Unwin (1983) Mastering Business Communication 8. LOCKWOOD, N. (2010). Corporate India and HR management creating talent pipelines, leadership competencies, and human resources. Alexandria, Va, Society for Human Resource Management. 9. MATHIS, R. L., & JACKSON, J. H. (2003). Human resource management. Mason, Ohio, Thomson/South-western. 10. MONDY, R. W., NOE, R. M., & GOWAN, M. (2005). Human resource management. Upper Saddle River, N.J., Pearson Prentice Hall. 11. Nadler D.A. (1981) “Managing organizational change: an interactive perspective”, The journal of applied behavior science, Vol.17 No. 2, pp.191-211 12. NOE, R. A. (2006). Human resource management: gaining a competitive advantage. Boston, Mass, McGraw-Hill. 13. Sharon L. Baker, University of Iowa, School of Library and Information Science. 14. ULRICH, D., LOSEY, M. R., & LAKE, G. S. (1997). Tomorrows HR management: 48 thought leaders call for change. Chichester, England, John Wiley. 15. ULRICH, D., LOSEY, M. R., & MIESINGER, S. (2005). The future of human resource management 64 thought leaders explore the critical HR issues of today and tomorrow. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley. Read More